Vehicle replacement simulation device and vehicle replacement simulation method

Abstract

The present invention facilitates estimating the congestion level at charging facilities in an area where a user resides if the user were to replace a currently-owned internal combustion engine vehicle with an electric vehicle.　A vehicle replacement simulation device according to the present invention comprises: a map information storage unit in which are stored dwelling information from which detached houses and apartment buildings can be estimated, and charging facility information, which includes locations of charging facilities where a plurality of users can simultaneously charge electric vehicles and information regarding chargers installed at the charging facilities; a dwelling number information calculation unit that calculates the number of dwellings in a first area, which is a residential area including the location where the user resides, by using the dwelling information to estimate the number of the apartment buildings and the detached houses; a congestion information creation unit that extracts, from the charging facility information, charging facilities present in a second area including the first area, and creates congestion information of the charging facilities from the number of dwellings and the number of the extracted charging facilities; and an output unit that outputs the congestion information to the user's information terminal.

Description

Vehicle substitution simulation device and vehicle substitution simulation method

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle substitution simulation device and a vehicle substitution simulation method for estimating the degree of congestion at charging facilities in an area where a user lives.

[0002] In recent years, efforts to realize a low-carbon or carbon-free society have become more active, and research and development into electric vehicles (EVs) has been conducted to reduce CO2 emissions and improve energy efficiency. While various automobile manufacturers sell EVs, owners of conventional gasoline- or diesel-fueled vehicles have expressed concerns about switching to an EV. One of the reasons for this concern is the extent to which they can charge their vehicles without waiting at charging facilities. This concern is particularly significant for users living in apartment complexes where charging facilities cannot be installed at home. In response to this issue, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for predicting future congestion at charging facilities based on past and current congestion and facility usage. However, since the technology described in Patent Document 1 uses data on past and current congestion and facility usage, only the charging facility operator can predict future congestion. Because there are multiple charging facility operators, users must manually collect future congestion information disclosed by each operator, which is impractical. As a result, this technology has not yet fully addressed the concerns users have when considering switching to an EV.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-110819

[0004] When a user trades in their current internal combustion engine vehicle for an electric vehicle, it is desirable to be able to easily estimate the congestion level of charging facilities in the area where the user lives.

[0005] (1) A vehicle substitution simulation device according to one aspect of the present invention (for example, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 described below) includes: a map information storage unit (for example, the map information storage unit 121 described below) that stores charging facility information including the locations of charging facilities that charge electric vehicles that can be shared by multiple users and information about chargers installed at the charging facilities, and dwelling information that enables estimating detached homes and apartment buildings; a dwelling number information calculation unit (for example, the dwelling number information calculation unit 110 described below) that calculates the number of dwellings by estimating the number of apartment buildings and detached homes using the dwelling information for a first area that is a residential area that includes a location where a user resides; a congestion information creation unit (for example, the congestion information creation unit 111 described below) that extracts charging facilities that exist in a second area that includes the first area from the charging facility information and creates congestion information for the charging facilities from the number of dwellings and the extracted number of charging facilities; and an output unit (for example, the output unit 112 described below) that outputs the congestion information to an information terminal of the user.

[0006] According to (1) above, when a user switches to an EV, the user can easily grasp the degree of congestion at charging facilities in the area where the user lives, which will help alleviate the user's anxiety.

[0007] (2) In the vehicle substitution simulation device described in (1) above (e.g., the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 described later), the congestion information creation unit (e.g., the congestion information creation unit 111 described later) may set the second area to be larger than the first area, and extract the charging facilities present in the second area from the charging facility information.

[0008] According to (2) above, it is possible to easily and accurately estimate the congestion level including charging facilities in the vicinity of a residential area.

[0009] (3) In the vehicle substitution simulation device described in (1) above (e.g., the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 described below), the dwelling number information calculation unit (e.g., the dwelling number information calculation unit 110 described below) may further estimate the number of dwellings in the apartment building by estimating the height and area of ​​the building from aerial image information stored in the map information storage unit as the dwelling information.

[0010] According to the above (3), it is possible to easily and accurately estimate the congestion degree of the charging facility.

[0011] (4) In the vehicle substitution simulation device described in (1) above (e.g., the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 described later), the dwelling number information calculation unit (e.g., the dwelling number information calculation unit 110 described later) may set an administrative district as the first area, and further estimate the number of dwellings by using the dwelling number information for each administrative district stored in the map information storage unit (e.g., the map information storage unit 121 described later) as the dwelling information.

[0012] According to the above (4), it is possible to easily and accurately estimate the congestion degree of the charging facility.

[0013] (5) In the vehicle substitution simulation device (e.g., the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 described later) described in any one of (1) to (4) above, the congestion information creation unit (e.g., the congestion information creation unit 111 described later) may create the congestion information by weighting the apartment building so that it has a greater impact on congestion at the charging facility than the detached house.

[0014] According to the above (5), it is possible to easily and accurately estimate the congestion degree of the charging facility.

[0015] (6) A vehicle substitution simulation method of the present invention is a vehicle substitution simulation method executed by a computer, and includes: a map information storage step for storing charging facility information including the locations of charging facilities for charging electric vehicles that can be shared by multiple users and information on chargers installed at the charging facilities, and dwelling information that allows estimating detached houses and apartment buildings; a dwelling number information calculation step for calculating the number of dwellings by estimating the number of apartment buildings and detached houses using the dwelling information for a first area that is a residential area that includes a location where a user resides; a congestion information creation step for extracting charging facilities that exist in a second area that includes the first area from the charging facility information, and creating congestion information for the charging facilities from the number of dwellings and the extracted number of charging facilities; and an output step for outputting the congestion information to an information terminal of the user.

[0016] According to the method (6) above, the same effects as those of the vehicle substitution simulation device (1) above can be achieved.

[0017] According to the present invention, when a user trades in their current internal combustion engine vehicle for an electric vehicle, it is possible to easily estimate the degree of congestion at charging facilities in the area where the user lives.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of a vehicle substitution simulation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a vehicle substitution simulation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a first area according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a second area according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a congestion degree table according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing vehicle substitution simulation processing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] A preferred embodiment of the vehicle substitution simulation device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 shows the basic configuration of a vehicle substitution simulation system 100. The vehicle substitution simulation system 100 includes a vehicle substitution simulation device 1, a mobile terminal 20A, a vehicle 20, and a communication network 30.

[0020] The mobile terminal 20A is a PC, smartphone, tablet terminal, or the like of a user who owns the vehicle 20. Application software for linking with the user's vehicle 20 may be installed on the mobile terminal 20A. The mobile terminal 20A receives GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite signals using a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor included in the mobile terminal 20A to acquire location information (latitude and longitude) of the mobile terminal 20A and time information when the location information is measured. The user issues instructions (inputs) to the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 via the mobile terminal 20A to perform a simulation process for replacing the user's vehicle 20 (an internal combustion engine vehicle) with an electric vehicle. The mobile terminal 20A transmits, to the vehicle substitution simulation device 1, instructions for the simulation process including the acquired location information, time information, and the like, along with identification information (terminal ID) of the mobile terminal 20A. The vehicle substitution simulation device 1 executes the simulation process based on the received instructions from the mobile terminal 20A and transmits the simulation results to the mobile terminal 20A. The mobile terminal 20A may display output information relating to the simulation results received from the vehicle substitution simulation device 1.

[0021] The vehicle 20 is an internal combustion engine vehicle (e.g., a gasoline vehicle). If the vehicle 20 is, for example, a connected car based on telematics technology, it is capable of communicating with a connected system (not shown) operated by the automobile manufacturer of the vehicle 20. Therefore, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 may be configured to receive the position information of the vehicle 20 together with time information from the connected system (not shown) via the communication network 30, instead of the position information of the mobile terminal 20A. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, the vehicle 20 refers to an internal combustion engine vehicle. The above has described an overview of the system configuration in this embodiment. Next, each configuration will be described.

[0022] <Vehicle Substitution Simulation Device 1> Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the vehicle substitution simulation device 1. As shown in Fig. 2, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication unit 13, a display unit 14, and an input unit 15.

[0023] The control unit 11 is configured with an arithmetic processing device such as a microprocessor, and controls each unit that configures the vehicle substitution simulation device 1. Details of the control unit 11 will be described later.

[0024] The storage unit 12 is configured with a semiconductor memory or the like, and stores various programs such as control programs called firmware or operating systems, programs for acquiring position information of each mobile terminal 20A, simulation processing, output processing, etc., and various other information such as map information. As shown in FIG. 2 , the storage unit 12 includes a map information storage unit 121. In the present embodiment, a configuration in which map information includes charging facility information and residence information is illustrated, but is not limited to this. The charging facility information may be stored in a charging facility information storage unit (not shown), and the residence information may be stored in a residence information storage unit (not shown).

[0025] The map information storage unit 121 stores road information, facility type information indicating the attributes of each facility for a plurality of facilities, location information associated with the facility, and other information about the residence that can be used to estimate whether the facility is a detached house or an apartment building. In this embodiment, the facility information includes charging facility information. The charging facility information includes, for example, facility type information indicating the charging facility, a charging facility identification number (charging facility ID) that identifies the charging facility, the name of the charging facility, location information of the charging facility (including information about the road facing the charging facility), a telephone number, an address, business hours, and power supply performance information of the charger installed at the charging facility. Here, the power supply performance information indicates, for example, the charging method (normal charging, rapid charging) and output amount (power supply amount per hour; in the case of the CHAdeMO standard, this is approximately 20 kW to 50 kW, with manufacturer-specific rapid charging of 60 kW, 90 kW, 150 kW, 250 kW, etc.). In addition to the charging facility information, the map information storage unit 121 may also include, for example, fueling facility (gas station) information. The fueling facility information includes, for example, facility type information indicating the fueling facility, the fueling facility name, and location information of the fueling facility (including information about the road facing the fueling facility). Furthermore, the residence information includes, for example, information about the number of dwellings, both detached houses and apartment buildings, for each administrative district. The facility information and residence information stored in the map information storage unit 121 may be stored in advance, or may be downloaded as needed from a server device (not shown) connected to the communication network 30. Furthermore, this information may be modified as needed in response to user input, etc.

[0026] The communication unit 13 has a DSP and the like, and conforms to standards such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), 5G (5th Generation), and Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and realizes wireless and wired communication between the mobile terminal 20A and other devices (for example, the aforementioned server, etc.) via the communication network 30. The communication network 30 is realized by a network such as the Internet or a mobile phone network, or a network that combines these. Furthermore, a local area network (LAN) may be included as part of the network.

[0027] The display unit 14 is configured with a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescence panel. The display unit 14 displays an image in response to an instruction from the control unit 11. The input unit 15 is configured with an input device (not shown) such as a physical switch called a numeric keypad or a touch panel provided over the display surface of the display unit 14.

[0028] Next, the control unit 11 will be described in detail. The control unit 11 is configured with a microprocessor having a CPU, RAM, ROM, I / O, etc. The CPU executes each program read from the ROM or storage unit 12, and during execution, reads information from the RAM, ROM, and storage unit 12, writes information to the RAM and storage unit 12, and exchanges signals with the communication unit 13. In this way, the processing in this embodiment is realized by the cooperation of hardware and software (programs).

[0029] As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 11 includes, as functional blocks, a dwelling number information calculation unit 110, a congestion information creation unit 111, and an output unit 112.

[0030] The dwelling number information calculation unit 110 calculates the number of dwellings by estimating the number of apartment buildings and detached houses for a first area, which is a residential area including the location where the user resides, using the dwelling information stored in the map information storage unit 121. Specifically, the dwelling number information calculation unit 110 identifies an administrative district (shaded) that is a residential area including the location where the user resides as the first area, as shown in FIG. 3, based on, for example, location information included in a simulation processing instruction received from the user's mobile terminal 20A. In FIG. 3, the location of the user's home is indicated by an icon. The dwelling number information calculation unit 110 reads dwelling number information for the identified administrative district (first area) from the map information storage unit 121. The dwelling number information calculation unit 110 calculates the number of apartment buildings and detached houses in the administrative district (first area) based on the read dwelling number information. Note that if aerial image information (e.g., images captured by an airplane, drone, or satellite) is stored in the map information storage unit as the residence information instead of the residence number information for the administrative district, the residence number information calculation unit 110 may read the aerial image information from the map information storage unit 121. The residence number information calculation unit 110 may accept a predetermined range in the read aerial image information as the first area based on an input operation by the user via the input unit 15. For example, the residence number information calculation unit 110 may extract apartment buildings and detached houses from the accepted aerial image information for the first area, and estimate the number of detached houses as well as the building height and area of ​​each extracted apartment building to estimate the number of residences in the apartment buildings.

[0031] The congestion information creation unit 111 extracts charging facilities present in a second area including the first area from the charging facility information stored in the map information storage unit 121, and creates congestion information about charging facilities based on the number of dwellings (including apartment buildings and detached houses) and the number of extracted charging facilities. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4 , for example, the congestion information creation unit 111 sets an area having a predetermined radius (e.g., 5 km) centered on the user's home in FIG. 3 and including the administrative district (first area) in which the user lives as the second area. The congestion information creation unit 111 reads charging facility information from the map information storage unit 121 and extracts charging facilities in the second area from the read charging facility information. The congestion information creation unit 111 calculates the number of chargers per predetermined number of households (e.g., 1,000 households) in the administrative district (first area) based on the number of dwellings (including apartment buildings and detached houses) calculated by the dwelling number information calculation unit 110 and the number of chargers at the extracted charging facilities. The congestion information creation unit 111, for example, compares the calculated number of chargers per predetermined number of households with multiple preset thresholds (e.g., first threshold < second threshold < ... < nth threshold, etc.) to create congestion information about charging facilities in the administrative district (first area) where the user's home is located (n is an integer equal to or greater than 2). FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a congestion level table. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a congestion level table in which n is "2," the first threshold is "3," and the second threshold is "5." Note that the congestion level table in FIG. 5 may be set in advance and stored in the storage unit 12. The congestion information creation unit 111 creates congestion information about charging facilities based on the congestion level table illustrated in FIG. 5 and the calculated number of chargers per predetermined number of households. For example, when the number of chargers per 1,000 households is less than three, the congestion information creation unit 111 creates congestion information with a congestion level of "high" because there is a possibility that a line of at least two to three electric vehicles waiting to be charged will form in the administrative district (first area) where the user's home is located, and that the line will last for more than one hour.Furthermore, when the number of chargers per 1,000 households is between three and five, the congestion information creation unit 111 creates congestion information with a congestion level of "medium" because there is a possibility that there will be about one electric vehicle waiting to be charged in the administrative district (first area) where the user's home is located, and that the line will last for about 30 minutes.Furthermore, when the number of chargers per 1,000 households is 5 or more, the congestion information creation unit 111 creates congestion information with a congestion level of "low" because there are no electric vehicles waiting to be charged in the administrative district (first area) where the user's home is located and charging can be done immediately. The congestion information creation unit 111 may also create congestion information for each type of charger, i.e., normal chargers and rapid chargers. In this way, when the congestion level of the congestion information is "high," the user can know how congested it will be and how long they will have to wait to charge at a charging facility in their area if they switch to an electric vehicle.

[0032] The output unit 112 outputs congestion information of charging facilities in the administrative district (first area) where the user's home is located, which is created by the congestion information creation unit 111, to the mobile terminal 20A via the communication network 30.

[0033] <Mobile terminal 20A> The functional blocks of the mobile terminal 20A will be described with reference to the block diagram of Fig. 6. As shown in Fig. 6, the mobile terminal 20A includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, a communication unit 23, a sensor unit 24, a display unit 25, and an input unit 26.

[0034] The control unit 21 is configured with a processing unit such as a microprocessor, and controls each unit that configures the mobile terminal 20 A. Details of the control unit 21 will be described later.

[0035] The memory unit 22 is composed of semiconductor memory, etc., and stores various information such as control programs called firmware and operating systems, and programs that perform functions such as sending simulation processing instructions to the vehicle substitution simulation device 1.

[0036] The communication unit 23 has a DSP and the like, and conforms to standards such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), and 5G (5th Generation), or Wi-Fi (registered trademark), thereby realizing wireless and wired communication with other devices (e.g., the vehicle substitution simulation device 1) via the communication network 60. The communication unit 23 is used, for example, to transmit simulation processing instructions including identification information (terminal ID) and location information of the mobile terminal 20A from the mobile terminal 20A side to the vehicle substitution simulation device 1. Note that there are no particular restrictions on the data transmitted and received between the communication unit 23 and other devices, and information other than the above information may also be transmitted and received.

[0037] The sensor unit 24 is configured with, for example, a GPS sensor, an acceleration sensor, a vibration sensor, etc. The sensor unit 24 measures the moving speed and vibration of the mobile terminal 20A using the acceleration sensor, the vibration sensor, etc. The sensor unit 24 also receives GPS satellite signals using the GPS sensor, measures the position information (latitude and longitude) of the mobile terminal 10, and acquires the time information when the position information is measured.

[0038] Display unit 25 is configured with a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescence panel. Display unit 25 displays images in response to instructions from control unit 21. Examples of information displayed by display unit 25 include user interfaces corresponding to various application programs installed in mobile terminal 20A.

[0039] The input unit 26 is composed of input devices such as physical switches called a numeric keypad and a touch panel overlaid on the display surface of the display unit 25. By outputting a signal to the control unit 21 based on an operation input from the input unit 26, for example, pressing a numeric keypad by the user or touching the touch panel, an instruction operation by the user is realized.

[0040] In addition, although not shown, the mobile terminal 20A may also be equipped with a speaker, a microphone, etc. This allows information to be output as voice from the speaker, and various instructions from the user inputted by voice via the microphone to be inputted to the control unit 21 using voice recognition technology.

[0041] Next, the control unit 21 will be described in detail. The control unit 21 is configured with a microprocessor having a CPU, RAM, ROM, I / O, etc. The CPU executes each program read from the ROM or storage unit 22, and during execution, reads information from the RAM, ROM, and storage unit 22, writes information to the RAM and storage unit 22, and exchanges signals with the communication unit 23, sensor unit 24, display unit 25, and input unit 26. In this way, the processing in this embodiment is realized by the cooperation of hardware and software (programs).

[0042] The instruction sending unit 211 sends instructions for the simulation process to the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 via wireless communication using the communication unit 23. Specifically, the instruction sending unit 211 sends, for example, location information of the user (mobile terminal 20A) required for the simulation process based on an input operation by the user via the input unit 26 to the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 together with instructions for the simulation process.

[0043] The result receiving unit 212 receives the results (congestion information) of the simulation processing by the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 via the communication unit 23, and displays the received results of the simulation processing on the display unit 25. In this way, the user can know how congested the charging facilities in the area where the user lives will be and how long they will have to wait to charge if they switch to an electric vehicle.

[0044] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing a vehicle substitution simulation process by the vehicle substitution simulation device 1. Specifically, the flowchart shows an example of a process flow in which the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 simulates congestion information of charging facilities in the area where a user lives when the user switches from an internal combustion engine vehicle 20 owned by the user to an electric vehicle.

[0045] In step S10, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 (dwelling number information calculation unit 110) receives an instruction for the simulation process including the location information of the user's mobile terminal 20A.

[0046] In step S11, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 (residential number information calculation unit 110) identifies the administrative district, which is the residential area including the location where the user resides, as the first area based on the location information received in step S10.

[0047] In step S12, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 (dwelling number information calculation unit 110) reads out the dwelling number information for the identified first area from the map information storage unit 121, and calculates the number of dwellings, including apartment buildings and detached houses, in the first area based on the read-out dwelling number information.

[0048] In step S13, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 (congestion information creation unit 111) sets an area having a predetermined radius (for example, 5 km) centered on the user's home and including the first area as the second area.

[0049] In step S14, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 (congestion information creation unit 111) reads out the charging facility information from the map information storage unit 121, and extracts charging facilities in the second area from the read out charging facility information.

[0050] In step S15, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 (congestion information creation unit 111) calculates the number of chargers per specified number of households (e.g., 1,000 households) in the first area based on the number of apartment buildings and detached houses calculated in step S12 and the charging facilities extracted in step S14.

[0051] In step S16, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 (congestion information creation unit 111) creates congestion information of charging facilities based on the congestion degree table and the number of chargers per predetermined number of households calculated in step S15.

[0052] In step S17, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 (output unit 112) outputs the congestion information created in step S16 to the mobile terminal 20A via the communication network 30, and ends the simulation process.

[0053] As described above, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 can easily estimate the degree of congestion at charging facilities in the area where a user lives when the user replaces their current internal combustion engine vehicle with an electric vehicle. This allows the user to easily understand the degree of congestion at charging facilities in the area where the user lives when replacing their current internal combustion engine vehicle with an electric vehicle, which helps to alleviate the user's concerns.

[0054] Each device can be realized by hardware, software, or a combination of these. Furthermore, the navigation method performed by the cooperation of each device included in the navigation system can also be realized by hardware, software, or a combination of these. Here, "realized by software" means that it is realized by a computer reading and executing a program.

[0055] The program can be stored and supplied to a computer using various types of non-transitory computer-readable media. Non-transitory computer-readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (e.g., flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD-Rs, CD-RWs, and semiconductor memories (e.g., mask ROMs, PROMs (Programmable ROMs), EPROMs (Erasable PROMs), flash ROMs, and RAMs (Random Access Memory)). The program may also be supplied to a computer by various types of transitory computer-readable media. Examples of transitory computer-readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The transitory computer-readable media can be supplied to a computer via wired communication paths such as electric wires and optical fibers, or via wireless communication paths.

[0056] The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment alone, and the present invention can be implemented in various modified forms within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

[0057] <Modification 1> In the above embodiment, the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 is described as being implemented by a single server device or the like, but the functions of the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 may be distributed across multiple server devices as appropriate to form a distributed processing system. Furthermore, the functions of the vehicle substitution simulation device 1 may be implemented by using a virtual server function or the like on a cloud.

[0058] <Variation 2> In the above-described embodiment, the dwelling number information calculation unit 110 calculates the number of dwellings by setting the administrative district in which the user resides as the first area and estimating the number of apartment buildings and detached houses using the dwelling number information for the administrative district as the dwelling information. However, this is not limited to this. For example, if aerial image information (e.g., images captured by an airplane, drone, artificial satellite, etc.) is stored in the map information storage unit, the dwelling number information calculation unit 110 may read the aerial image information from the map information storage unit 121 and accept a predetermined range in the read aerial image information as the first area based on a user's input operation via the input unit 15. For example, the dwelling number information calculation unit 110 may extract apartment buildings and detached houses from the received aerial image information for the first area, and estimate the number of detached houses as well as the building height and area of ​​each extracted apartment building to estimate the number of apartment buildings.

[0059] <Variation 3> In the above-described embodiment, the congestion information creation unit 111 calculates the number of chargers per predetermined number (e.g., 1,000 households) in the first area based on the number of residences, which is the simple sum of the number of residences in apartment buildings and the number of residences in detached houses, and the number of extracted charging facilities. However, this is not limited to this. For example, the congestion information creation unit 111 may calculate the number of residences by weighting the number of residences in apartment buildings by a factor of 1.5, for example, and adding it to the number of residences in detached houses, and then calculate the number of chargers per predetermined number (e.g., 1,000 households) in the first area based on the weighted number of residences for apartment buildings and the extracted number of charging facilities. In other words, while users of detached houses install standard chargers at their homes, users of apartment buildings are likely to use charging facilities more frequently because it is difficult to install standard chargers in apartment buildings. The congestion information creation unit 111 can create more accurate congestion information by weighting the number of residences in apartment buildings.

[0060] 100 Vehicle substitution simulation system 1 Vehicle substitution simulation device 11 Control unit 110 Dwelling number information calculation unit 111 Congestion information creation unit 112 Output unit 12 Memory unit 121 Map information memory unit 13 Communication unit 14 Display unit 15 Input unit 20 Vehicle 20A Portable terminal 21 Control unit 211 Instruction transmission unit 212 Result reception unit 22 Memory unit 23 Communication unit 24 Sensor unit 25 Display unit 26 Input unit 30 Communication network

Claims

1. A vehicle substitution simulation device comprising: a map information storage unit that stores charging facility information including the locations of charging facilities that can be used jointly by multiple users to charge electric vehicles and information on chargers installed at the charging facilities, and residence information that can be estimated to be detached homes and apartment buildings; a residence number information calculation unit that calculates the number of residences by estimating the number of apartment buildings and detached homes using the residence information for a first area that is a residential area including a point where a user resides; a congestion information creation unit that extracts charging facilities present in a second area including the first area from the charging facility information, and creates congestion information for the charging facilities from the number of residences and the extracted number of charging facilities; and an output unit that outputs the congestion information to an information terminal of the user.

2. The vehicle substitution simulation device according to claim 1, characterized in that the congestion information creation unit sets the second area to be larger than the first area, and extracts the charging facilities present in the second area from the charging facility information.

3. The vehicle substitution simulation device described in claim 1, characterized in that the dwelling number information calculation unit further estimates the number of dwellings in the apartment building by estimating the height and area of ​​the buildings in the apartment building from the aerial image information stored in the map information storage unit as the dwelling information.

4. The vehicle substitution simulation device described in claim 1, characterized in that the residence number information calculation unit sets an administrative district as the first area, and estimates the number of residences by using the residence number information for each administrative district stored in the map information storage unit as the residence information.

5. A vehicle substitution simulation device as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the congestion information creation unit creates the congestion information by weighting the apartment building so that it has a greater impact on congestion at the charging facility than the detached house.

6. A vehicle substitution simulation method executed by a computer, comprising: a map information storage step for storing charging facility information including the positions of charging facilities that charge electric vehicles that can be used jointly by multiple users and information on chargers installed at the charging facilities, and residence information that can be estimated to be detached homes and apartment buildings; a residence number information calculation step for calculating the number of residences by estimating the number of apartment buildings and detached homes using the residence information for a first area that is a residential area including a point where a user resides; a congestion information creation step for extracting charging facilities present in a second area including the first area from the charging facility information, and creating congestion information for the charging facilities from the number of residences and the extracted number of charging facilities; and an output step for outputting the congestion information to an information terminal of the user.

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